Jack Leetham, a young champion swimmer from DSA won the top spot in the 5km Individual Category at the Oceanman Langkawi 2018 event. The yearly Open water endurance swimming event was held at Tanjung Rhu beach, Langkawi with international participation with swimmers from European nations also assembling at the tourist destination.

As Jack says in his interview after the event, open water swimming calls for a lot of stamina and endurance as the ocean currents are often unpredictable and there needs to be a lot of safety precautions in place for the participants. The event was well organized and he felt safe going out into the open water, though on the return leg, the waters were a bit choppy according to him.

DSA congratulates Jack Leetham on this outstanding achievement and kudos to him for taking swimming to new levels and it all begins with a good learning of swimming skills, something which DSA instills in every young swimmer.

View video of the full program on TV1

DSA Swim Clinic with Peter Bishop draws scores of young swimmers

The Chinese New Year at DSA started with some international visitors much to the delight of the young swimmers who has gathered for the one day Swim Clinic organized by DSA at Bukit Jalil on 9 Feb 2019. The Clinic was conducted by Peter Bishop, 2018 Australian Coach of the Year, together with Kyle Chalmers, 2016 Rio Olympics Gold Medalist (100m Freestyle).

Along with them, other international swimming stars from the South Australian Sports Institute (SASI) also joined in at the Lion Dance Celebration to mark the start of the Chinese New Year.  The swimmers included Brittany Elmslie–Olympics Gold Medalist, 2012 & 2016, Madison Wilson–Commonwealth Games and World Championship medalist, Travis Mahoney and James McKechnie who both competed in Commonwealth Games and World Championships.

About 130 young swimmers from DSA Swimming Team participated in the Clinic which covered topics like the role of proper stroke and technique and the importance of having the right equipment for training. The elite swimmers shared their valuable experience and tips to an enthralled audience as they spoke about their journey to the Olympics, how they prepare themselves for the swim meets, how they manage their emotion and nervousness pre race, what kind of food they eat, what they do for recovery. The swimmers and coaches then moved to the pool for demonstrations and hands-on tips and drills for the DSA swimmers. After a much enjoyed and enlightening session, it was time for photo sessions and selfies as the swimmers gathered around.

DSA extends their immense gratitude to the elite team of coaches and swimmers from Australia who took time out of their schedules to be with the young DSA swimmers for whom they are a source of inspiration and motivation. A big thank you also to all the DSA swimmers, parents and team of DSA coaches who participated and made the event a great success.

 

Young swimmers score big with nearly 200 Medals, finish as runners-up

DSAS Swimming Club had a great day out at the 29th Selangor Age Group Swimming Championship 2019 held at Pusat Akuatik Darul Ehsan, Shah Alam on 24-27 January, being the first Swimming Meet for the Club this year. With 67 Golds, DSAS Swimming Club did really well, improving their overall performance from last year with a huge tally of 197 Medals in all. Some of the outstanding performances at the Meet included Ng Gha Yuan with an incredible 10 Golds, a stellar performance among the Novice swimmers group, while Fatin Amira Ahmad Hadri won 4 Golds in the State swimmers group.

Other big winners in the Novices category included Lee Zi Xuan with 8 Golds, Muhammad Zulluqman Razali  and Ethan Chan Zhuo Xi with 5 Golds, Tan Ianna and Trisha Chong Sue Yan – 4 Golds, Lee Ming Zhou – 3 Golds, Elizabeth Chan Yiwen, Liew Ze Hou, Lee Zi Ying and Angus Lim  – 2 Golds each and Ivan Yeoh Sheng Kuan, Chan Al Win, Nigel Leong Zhuoxian, Marcus Woo Yong Hau with 1 Gold each. Other Gold winners in the State swimmers were Daniel Liew Jia Hau with 3 Golds; Adam Jeffrey Dillon and Arniesh Chai Sasheedran with 1 Gold. A good amount of medals also came through the Relay events with 5 of the 22 Medals being Golds. A detailed look at the Medals Tally is given below.

It was a brilliant start for the young club, with all of the swimmers doing their best with good improvements in their PBs. A big round of well-deserved applause goes to the budding champions as we look forward to the remaining Meet coming up quickly all through the year.  Congratulations and a big thank you to all the parents, and DSA coaches for their dedication, support and guidance. Onward Team DSAS, all through 2019.

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DSA Swim Club wins PRAKL Age Group Swimming Championship with a stunning 33 new records and 184 medal haul

DSA Swimmers made their way into the chronicles of Malaysian Swimming at the end of the 3 day MILO/PRAKL Age Group 2019 clinching the Overall Championship of the prestigious Meet held at Bandar Tun Razak, Cheras KL, on 19-21 January, 2019. With the second largest team of 227 swimmers, DSA topped the Medal count in the Meet with a total of 184 medals, 78 of them Gold. This was a significant increase from the previous year tally of 136 medals of which 52 were Gold and also the best ever results by the Club so far.

With this first ever win, DSA swimmers made their mark as they beat the reigning champions by a comfortable margin of over 15 Golds. New Meet records came pouring in with Yap Yong Jie, Misa Okuzono, Darren Lew Chen Jet, Alma Louise Bendix Dahl, Cynthia Khor Wen Qi, Georgene Wee Ee Jern, Tan Yi Qin and Chong Hiong Kiet adding their names into record books multiple times. New records were also made in the Relays and Group Medleys making the Meet one of the most successful participations by DSA Swim Club so far. Besides overwhelming counts of records and medals, 20 DSA swimmers also qualified for the Malaysia Invitational Age Group Championships (MIAG) 2019, which was the cherry on the cake for the Club. The overall performance of the young swimmers were remarkable and many of them like Grace Kim, Chong Xin Lin and Woo Seungmin, who although were at a disadvantage, being drawn with older competitors in the same age group, still managed to contribute medals to the total tally.

Golds were brought home by Yap Yong Jie who won a record breaking 13 Golds, followed by Alma Louise Bendix Dahl with 12 Golds, Misa Okuzono with 11 Golds. Georgene Wee Ee Jern  added 9 Golds and Darren Lew Chen Jet won 8 Golds. Chong Xin Lin took home 4 Golds while Shermann Choong Li Sheng and Liam Eu Li-An won another 3 Golds each. Chong Hiong Kiet also added another 2 Golds to the tally while Eunice Wong Ee Yin, Tan Yi Qin, Koh Teck Chen, Grace Kim, Cynthia Khor Wen Qi and Aishath Sajina added 1 Gold each to the team collection of Golds. The Relay teams also did a magnificent job winning 7 Golds in the Group and Medley events. A detailed look at the Medals tally is given in the table below.

With this, DSA Swim Club has well and truly opened the year’s calendar with a bang, and it is with great happiness and privilege that we thank everyone starting from the young swimmers themselves, the DSA coaches, parents and everyone else who did their bit for this awesome win. We look forward to the Meets coming up all through the year with high expectations of more success, Go Team DSA!

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Zulluqman makes it to the pages of Berita Harian

Malaysian Newspaper Berita Harian in its issue dated January 15, 2019, covered the story of Muhammad Zulluqman Razali, who has been active in swimming from the age of 7 years.

Zulluqman has been a water enthusiast almost from when he could last remember. Starting at the tender age of just 6 years, Zulluqman was swimming and training at the Bukit Jalil National Aquatic Centre with DSA almost every day. By the age of 7, he was already representing DSA Swimming Club and his School at many Swimming Meets including the Selangor Age Group and the inter-school Meets like Majlis Sukan Sekolah Selangor (MSSS). Zulluqman says he is lucky in many aspects as his family fully supports his swimming aspirations and they whole heartedly are behind his efforts and his success.

As a school-going student, just as everyone else of his age, academics can sometimes be a deterrent as most children tend to give up competitive swimming as the rigors of schooling and sport training can be too much. For Zulluqman however, he says it is only a matter of balance and he has been managing to continue his competitive training while maintaining good grades in school. His achievements over the years include

• Selangor Age Group Swimming 2013 (under 8 yr category)
  2 Gold s 2 Silver
• Selangor Age Group Swimming 2015 (under 10 yrs category)
  2 Gold 3 Silver 2 Bronze
• Malaysian Age Group Swimming 2015 (under 10 yrs)
  Represented Selangor State
• Majlis Sukan Sekolah Selangor 2016 (MSSS) (under 12 yrs)
  1 Silver 1 Bronze
• Majlis Sukan Sekolah Malaysia 2016 (MSSM) (under 12 yrs)
  1 Gold
• Majlis Sukan Sekolah Selangor 2017 – Represented School
• Majlis Sukan Sekolah Selangor 2018– Represented School

Zulluqman looks at swimming more as a way to be fit and healthy in addition to giving him a sense of discipline in his lifestyle as competitive swimming requires a very high degree of dedication. Zulluqman also has his mentors and idols, Michael Phelps being his greatest idol for his unsurpassable achievements at the Olympics. Daniel Bego, a Malaysian national swimmer is another of his idols, as he also knows him on a personal level as they had trained together in Bukit Jalil before.

Zulluqman feels that swimming as a sport needs more popularity in Malaysia and especially among Malays where the concept of water safety and swimming has not been reaching. He hopes that since has reached the level of success not common among Malays, it will be an inspiration for others in his community to take up to the water. He feels that if they try and persevere like him, then success is not far and there is no obstacle for someone who desires to achieve success not just in sport but in academics as well, whether it is going to good universities in the country or even studying overseas.